Doping by metal-mediated epitaxy: Growth of As delta-doped Si through a Pb monolayer

In molecular-beam epitaxy a monolayer of Pb on the Si(111) surface induces single-crystal growth at temperatures well below those required for similar growth on a bare surface. We demonstrate that the suppression of dopant segregation at the lower temperatures attainable by Pb-mediated growth allows the incorporation of As donors at concentrations reaching a few atomic percent. When Pb and Si are deposited on an As-terminated Si(111) substrate at 350 degreesC, the Pb segregates to the surface without doping the Si film while the As is buried within nanometers of the substrate-film interface. The resulting concentration of electrically active As, 1.8 x 10(21) cm(-3), represents the highest concentration of As donors achieved by any delta-doping or thin-film deposition method. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.